ProStart!!

This Wednesday, my students will be competing in the ProStart competition. I am excited for them and I think they are excited and ready to get this going!
They first have to fabricate chickens, then demonstrate their knife skills, then they have some time for mise en place, an hour to cook their meal (includes a starter, entree, and dessert), and then clean up. They get feedback from culinary professionals and then there is an awards assembly. So fun, no matter what the outcome!

Caramel Oatmeal Chewies

I wish I had never found this recipe. But, that's only because they're so good. I can only tell you that I have a stomachache right now. Oops!! Guess that two pound loss I posted last week might not be matched this week! These were a great replacement for the girl scout cookies I have managed to avoid buying!!

I found these on Cooking This and That, where I always find great recipes we like.



I snapped this photo while people were over, nerd alert!!

Caramel Oatmeal Chewies (click for recipe)

originally from Toll House, found on Cooking This and That
The only change I made was to use 1 cup of mini chocolate chips rather than 2 full cups of regular, and they were still plenty chocolatey! Enjoy!!

Strawberry Mint Mousse

I haven't updated much lately! We've been eating mostly at home, but nothing really new to share--going through a pretty familiar rotation of meals for the most part.

On the other hand, at school we have been preparing lots of new different things. There have been some disasters that I call authentic learning experiences:) and some successes. We finally have our menu nailed down for our competition, which is a good thing since it is in two weeks from today!!

This comes from Food & Wine, and it is really really great! We even made chocolate bowls to put them in. We're going for the look of a chocolate covered strawberry with the play on the strawberry mousse and the mint "stem". These pictures are from the first run, so it's a little sloppy. We're working on that!

Strawberry Mint Mousse

from Food and Wine

1 pint strawberries, hulled and quartered (or finely chopped if you don't want big chunks in your mousse)

3 tbsp sugar (we will increase this by 1 tbsp next time)

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 heaping tbsp slivered fresh mint

In a medium bowl, sprinkle the strawberries with the sugar and mash lightly with a fork until the strawberries have exuded some juice and the sugar begins to dissolve. Let macerate for 15 minutes.

Strain the juice from the strawberries into a bowl. Whisk the sour cream into the juice. In a medium bowl, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. Fold in the sour cream mixture. Gently fold in the strawberries. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 20 minutes. Spoon the mousse into bowls and garnish with the mint.

Delicious Baked Fudge

Delicious Baked Fudge

From The Pioneer Woman
Servings: 4

2 whole eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp (heaping) cocoa
2 tbsp flour
½ cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 315 F.
Beat eggs until light in color. Beat in sugar until just combined. Add cocoa, flour, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Mix gently until well combined.
Pour batter into four large ramekins or one 8-inch square baking dish. Set ramekins or pan into a larger pan halfway full of water.
Bake 40-50 minutes, or until upper crust is crispy and the rest of the batter is firm but not set. Toothpick should come out (not clean, but the mixture should not be overly runny).
Serve with sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream if desired.

The transition from analog to digital....

If you haven't seen this, you have to. Don't have any liquid in your mouth--you will probably spit it out laughing!! I am using this as a video in Consumer Choices, and I think the kids are going to get a kick out of it, too!

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/997070/

Creamy Potato Soup with Ham

This is another dish we made at school that I had to share. I don't take pictures of school food typically--because they are too anxious to eat it, and because I think it would be strange to get my camera out every time we make stuff (unless I was taking pictures of the kids, but then I still wouldn't share them with you since the kids were in it!!)

Anyway, this is worth sharing even sans picture. You could change out the cream and half and half for milk. We made it with cream and 1/2 and 1/2 just because I had some. I don't know where I got the recipe--I just had it in my folder. The kids loved it and everybody was taking the recipe home to try to convince their parents to let them make this weekend :)

Creamy Potato Soup with Ham

2 tbsp butter

1 1/2 to 2 cups chopped onion

1 cup chopped celery

2 large carrots, peeled and chopped

2 cups diced ham

1 clove garlic, minced

2 cups vegetable broth (we used chicken)

1 cup water

4 to 5 cups peeled and diced potatoes

1 cup heavy cream

3 tbsp flour

1 cup 1/2 and 1/2 or whole milk; more if needed to thin

salt and pepper, to taste (don't forget about how salty the ham is before you have your way with the salt shaker!!)

2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, optional

sliced green onions for garnish, optional

shredded cheese for garnish, optional

In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add onion, celery, carrots, and ham. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions are tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute longer. Add vegetable broth and water and potatoes; cover and cook for about 25 minutes over medium heat, until potatoes are tender. Whisk flour into the heavy cream until smooth; stir into the hot mixture. Stir in the 1/2 and 1/2 or milk. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Mash slightly to thicken and add more milk if necessary.

Serve garnished with parsley, green onions, and shredded cheese.

Serves 6

Cheese Dip

Norris made this cheese dip and it's so good! I laughed as I typed this because it reminds me a lot of his chili recipe--buffalo sauce and other random things--but both his chili and his cheese dip are excellent!! I actually got him to sit down and write the recipe out, so here it is.
This is the best cheese dip I've had, definitely! It makes a LOT.

1 large block Velveeta
1 can of pinto beans
1.5 lb. ground beef, cooked and drained
1 pkg chili seasoning
1 pkg taco seasoning
1/4 cup buffalo sauce
2 tsp hot sauce
1/2 cup spicy V8
1/2 tbsp Creole seasoning (Tony C's)
3 cups milk (used skim)

Begin to melt cheese in crockpot as you measure everything else.
Mix taco seasoning and chili seasoning in a bowl with 1 cup water, then add to melted cheese.
Add in all other ingredients and let the crockpot do its thing!

Chicken Mushroom Quesadillas

Not much of an update, just pointing you to a recipe to try if you like quesadillas as much as we do! I had kind of forgotten about our quesadilla maker, and I've pulled it out twice in the last week after I remembered how good they are!
Stephanie posted Ellie K.'s (from Food Network) recipe for healthy chicken mushroom quesadillas, so I gave them a try and they are great--both of us agreed!

I calculated it to be around 175 calories if you eat half of the whole quesadilla (one tortilla)--I used La Tortilla Factory low carb whole wheat small tortillas.